Why wont my Disk Utility allow me to Reformat and Partition Seagate?

When I plug in my new Seagate HD, via USB 2.0 cable to my Mac, the Seagate HD mounts on my desk top. When I open disk utility and select the Seagate HD in the left hand colomn, and then select the Erase tab in the right hand colomn to begin the process of Reformatting and Partitioning, none of the Volume Format selections high light. Everything remains dimmed and I am unable to move forward. I am able to use Disk Utility to Repair Disk Permissions for my Macintosh HD but nothing else!
I am unable to find any kind of 'lock' or 'preference' for Disk Utility. The Disk Utility info under file >get info high lights Owner and Group with pull down options but it is not clear to me what pull down items I should select and if I am even in the right place.

Not knowing exactly what you did, I'll describe what should be done:
1. Open Disk Utility in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled, if supported.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled, if supported.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process will take 30 minutes to an hour or more depending upon the drive size.

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Erase and Install
1. Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
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I found a very suggestive article, could be a silver bullet for this kind of problem.
*http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=760190*
+*quote from SWedd*+
+In my case, it was caused by the Apple_Bootstrap partition (created during Ubuntu install), of format unknown to OSX. This partition was positioned right after my Macintosh_HD partition. To enlarge my Macintosh_HD I needed to use diskutil to erase the Apple_Bootstrap partition to a blank "MS-DOS" partition. Then I could use Disk Utility to Delete the MS-DOS partition. After that I could resize my Macintosh_HD freely.+
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To resort to diskutil is sure worthwhile.
Message was edited by: Shigerello

Welcome to the Apple forums and thanks for the information.
Warning:
The terminal command
diskutil
should be used with care, as with most terminal commands.
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man diskutil

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Having used my computer for several days I decided to use Disk Utility to “Repair Disk Permissions” after a few hours of use.
2008-11-29 08:30:17 -0800: Disk Utility started.
2008-11-29 08:30:24 -0800: Repairing permissions for “Macintosh HD”
2008-11-29 08:30:24 -0800: Reading permissions database.
2008-11-29 08:30:24 -0800: Reading the permissions database can take several minutes.
2008-11-29 08:43:29 -0800: Permissions differ on "private/var/log/secure.log", should be -rw------- , they are -rw-r----- .
2008-11-29 08:48:26 -0800: Group differs on "private/etc/cups", should be 0, group is 26.
2008-11-29 08:48:28 -0800:
2008-11-29 08:48:28 -0800: Permissions repair complete
2008-11-29 08:48:28 -0800:
2008-11-29 08:48:28 -0800:
I shut down the computer, turned off its power for 1 minute and restarted. I initiated Disk Utility once again.
2008-11-29 09:16:42 -0800: Disk Utility started.
2008-11-29 09:20:55 -0800: Repairing permissions for “Macintosh HD”
2008-11-29 09:20:55 -0800: Reading permissions database.
2008-11-29 09:20:55 -0800: Reading the permissions database can take several minutes.
2008-11-29 09:38:47 -0800: Group differs on "private/etc/cups", should be 0, group is 26.
2008-11-29 09:38:49 -0800:
2008-11-29 09:38:49 -0800: Permissions repair complete
2008-11-29 09:38:49 -0800:
2008-11-29 09:38:49 -0800:
When Disk Utility was finished, I clicked on “Clear History” and reran “Repair Disk Permissions.”
2008-11-29 09:42:01 -0800: Repairing permissions for “Macintosh HD”
2008-11-29 09:42:01 -0800: Reading permissions database.
2008-11-29 09:42:01 -0800: Reading the permissions database can take several minutes.
2008-11-29 10:00:19 -0800:
2008-11-29 10:00:19 -0800: Permissions repair complete
2008-11-29 10:00:19 -0800:
2008-11-29 10:00:19 -0800:
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My question...
Why did I initially see:
2008-11-29 08:43:29 -0800: Permissions differ on "private/var/log/secure.log", should be -rw------- , they are -rw-r----- .
2008-11-29 08:48:26 -0800: Group differs on "private/etc/cups", should be 0, group is 26.
and why after restarting should I end up with only
2008-11-29 09:38:47 -0800: Group differs on "private/etc/cups", should be 0, group is 26.
and after “Clear History” and rerunning Disk Utility why is everything clear until I start using the computer again?
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Thank you,
ZTIWYM3ZUI

As a casual "Apple Discussions" user it hadn't occurred to me that if a question had been answered previously, it should never be asked again.
It's not that. It's because the problem's been beaten to death over the past fourteen months, since Apple shipped Leopard, that most consider it common knowledge, no matter where one's been visiting or how often. Every Apple/Macintosh related website has addressed the never ending issue. Finally, since the forums Help file says:
*I have a question or issue—how do I search for answers?*
+It's possible that your question or issue has already been answered by other members so do a search before posting a question. On most Apple Discussions pages, you'll find a Search Discussions box in the upper right corner. Enter a search term (or terms) in the field and press Return. Your results will appear as a list of links to posts below the Search Discussions Content pane.+
+You can also refine your search by using the options in the Search Discussions Content pane. Click the Search Tips link for help with our search features. You can streamline your results by restricting your search terms by category or forum, specifying a date range, or searching for posts by username. You can also search the User Tips Library.+
Maybe that should be retitled: *+I have a question or issue—how do I resolve it?+*
Just out of curiosity, I wonder if any of these exceptional people can figure out my signature.
ZTIWYM3ZUI - "time is what you make—use it" or something of that nature.

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You need to do the following:
Drive Partition and Format
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
Only use a single-pass to zero the data. Any more is overkill and will take many hours to complete.

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I have a macbook pro 13 mid 2010 running os x mavericks
when i power on my macbook, its stuck at the apple logo..after about 10 minutes it goes to some os x menu giving me options to open up disk utlity and other stuff.
i took out my harddrive, and plugged it into another computer via usb adapter, and found out the drive works fine, all my files are there and are accessible.
when i use disk utility on that other computer with my nonworking hd attached, and choose "verify disk" , it says my disk needs to be repaired. when i try and repair it, a popup comes up saying "disk utility stopped repairing my harddrive..and that it couldn't unmount disk.....
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Your drive is not functioning properly. When connected to any Mac in any way and you hold down the option key at startup of that Mac your drive should show the name the hard drive has been assigned. Which normally is Macintosh HD.
Like this. Only my drive is called Mavericks.
Along with the Recovery HD partition or partitions as in my screen shot.
If should not show Boot EFI.

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So I'm doing a backup image in Disk Utility. Started up from the install DVD 10.6 and went into D U and making an image of my Macbook's (2008) HD (250gb) and saving it to a WD usb 2.0 external drive. I'm going on 8 hours. I know it takes a while but I swear my iBook from 2002 is faster on USB 1.0 . Is this normal? I feel like I would have been better off putting it in Target Disk Mode and used another Mac to back it up instead. I want all my data after the restore so I thought the image was the best way to go. This can't be the fastest way. Would this go any faster on FireWire? I know the file transfer itself can't take 8 hours can it? I'm miffed. Any advice?
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Thomas A Reed wrote:
+_Also, why did you boot from the install disk? That is absolutely not necessary. I'd also absolutely, 100% recommend against using disk images for backup. Large disk images are too easy to corrupt, which will cause you to lose everything they contain. They're just not good enough for backups. Use [Carbon Copy Cloner|http://www.bombich.com> or SuperDuper instead...+_
I was following Apple's instructions http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1553
I had it backed up in SuperDuper and Time Machine as well. I knew I could get all of my data with an image and I've never used SD for importing data, only whole disk images.
_+You didn't say how full your hard drive is. If your drive isn't anywhere near capacity, it shouldn't be taking that long. If it is too close to capacity, that could be part of the problem.+_
Yeah, I was at 240/250gb. I didn't think about that. Thats also good to know.
The external 1TB WD USB2 drive I used was the same drive that a few months back I transferred 900+ gigs to from my W7 computer with a esata drive. (1tb WD usb2 to esata 1tb through my W7 PC). While I know the esata is super fast, that WD 1TB USB2 drive "was" fast (35 - 50 sustained speed?) and it took maybe six hours for 900+gb. Thats why I'm confused.
All in all I really don't care if it takes that long if I know that ahead of time. It's one thing to hit a button and go to sleep, but another to get it done ASAP because it's 5am and I should have been done by midnight at the latest. I need to use it all day today.
Thanks guys.
Message was edited by: dtommyd2

Why wont my Disk Utility allow me to Reformat and Partition Seagate?

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